Classification And Application Scope Of Plant Extracts

Plant extracts refer to substances extracted or processed from plants (all or a part of plants) using appropriate solvents or methods. They can be used in the pharmaceutical industry, food industry, daily chemical industry and other industries.

Classification of plant extracts

1. According to the content of active ingredients, it can be divided into three types: effective monomer extract, standard extract and ratio extract;

2. Divided into glycosides, acids, polyphenols, polysaccharides, terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, etc. according to ingredients;

3. According to the product form, it can be divided into vegetable oil, extract, powder, lens, etc.

4. According to the purpose, plant extracts can be divided into the application of natural pigment products and plant extracts

The application range of plant extracts is now very wide. In addition to traditional Chinese medicine products, as people's trust and dependence on natural products gradually increase, a large part of plant extracts have been used in health care products and food ingredients. In addition, plant extracts have been used in cosmetics and feed in recent years.

There are several classifications of some of the best-selling plant extracts in the world. For example, rhodiola, ginkgo, ginseng extracts are used in the fields of brain strengthening, intelligence, and prevention and treatment of senile dementia;

Green tea, Citrus aurantium, apple, bitter gourd polypeptide extracts, etc. are used for weight loss, lowering blood sugar and preventing diabetes;

Paclitaxel, tea polyphenols, theanine, bioflavonoids, such as lycopene, anthocyanins, etc. are used in the field of natural anti-cancer;

Licorice, garlic, astragalus, and soybean extracts are used in the field of human immune system.

Among them, plant essential oils are oily liquids with aroma and volatility. They are a mixture of various compounds. They have physiological activities and have many medical effects, such as relieving cough, relieving asthma, sweating, relieving the surface, expectorating, and expelling wind. , Analgesia, antibacterial, etc. The volatile oil content of medicinal plants is richer in Platycladus orientalis, Magnolia officinalis, Xinyi, camphor tree, cinnamon evodia, Angelica dahurica, Chuanxiong, Angelica, peppermint and so on.

Based on the legislative scope and concepts and usage conditions of various countries, the concept of plant extracts can be accepted and recognized by various countries, and it is also a common way of expression for spreading herbal medicines in various countries. China’s export of plant extracts exceeded that of proprietary Chinese medicines as early as 1999. In European and American countries, plant extracts and their products (plant medicine or food supplements) have broad market prospects and have developed into a new industry with annual sales of nearly 8 billion U.S. dollars.

China's plant extracts are generally intermediate products and have a wide range of uses. They are mainly used as raw materials or auxiliary materials for medicines, health foods, tobacco, and cosmetics. There are also many types of raw material plants used for extraction, and currently there are more than 300 plant varieties entering industrial extraction.